Hundreds of hens who lay unique pastel-colored eggs have been stolen from a family's farm just weeks before Easter.

Gerald Leuschen, who hand-raised the chickens on Buddy's Farm in Sonoma County, California, said he has been left emotionally and financially devastated by the loss - which he predicts will cost him around $22,000.

Leuschen, who runs the farm with his wife and their two young sons, said he first noticed about half of his 600 to 700 'Easter Egger' hens were missing after returning to work following a brief illness.

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'Taken': The owners of Buddy's Farm in California (pictured) have had hundreds of chickens stolen. The targeted hens are known for laying colorful eggs which are particularly in demand around Easter

Special: The 'Easter Egger' chickens lay pink, blue, green and cream eggs (pictured) but owner Gerald Leuschen said his family is now collecting just half of the eggs they would expect to have right now

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He told KTVU that the birds apparently vanished overnight from their coop, which he had always left closed but unlocked until the theft.

It came just days after he noticed the coop was wide open and that some of the birds were outside, so he told his sons, aged 11 and 13, to make sure they secured the door behind them.

'For someone to come in and do that is a violation. It's a huge violation,' he told KTVU.

'I'm angry they're taking the food right out of my family's mouth, but I can't carry that anger.'

He believes someone who knows the farm and knows chickens could be responsible, and that too many chickens have disappeared for an animal to be responsible, the Press Democrat reported.

Heartbroken: Leuschen, pictured, runs the Sonoma County farm with his wife, sons and brother-in-law and said he is emotionally and financially devastated by the disappearance of the chickens

Loved: He said he misses his beautiful Easter Egger chickens, all of whom he hand-reared from birth

Leuschen, who started the business a few years ago, said he is down around $75 a day in earnings from eggs and about $100 invested in each chicken, for a total of more than $22,000.

WHY DO 'EASTER EGGERS' LAY COLORFUL EGGS?

Easter Eggers are a mix of different breeds. Their eggs may be blue, green, pink, brown, olive or cream. Each hen will give lay just one egg color - they do not each lay a variety.

Egg colors occur when pigments are deposited as an egg moves through the hen's oviduct. The exact color then hen will lay is determined by their genetics.

For example, some breeds lay only white eggs (Leghorns) or brown eggs (Orpingtons), while others lay more colorful eggs. An Olive Egger lays green eggs because it is the result of cross breeding between brown- and blue-laying chickens.

Likewise, because Easter Eggers are a hybrid breed, a coop will lay a mixture of colors.

Quite often the color of the chicken's earlobe (the flappy piece of skin at the side of their heads) will indicate the colors of their eggs. If a chicken has white earlobes, it will likely lay white eggs, while if the earlobe is pink, the eggs will likely be non-white.

Despite the different colors on the shell, the eggs inside are the same and there are no major differences in flavor. Instead, flavor is determined by the chicken's diet.

Easter Eggers are kept for their eggs but are not large enough to be used for meat.

The birds, which he and his family incubated inside their home before hand-rearing, are a mixture of heritage and standard breeds, which allows for their colorful eggs.

The demand for the eggs, which are blue, pink, grey, green and olive, is particularly high ahead of Easter, now less that two weeks away, the family said.

Leuschen explained they should be collecting around 30 dozen eggs a day, and would expect to be getting as many as 50 dozen a day in a month - but right now they're only collected 21 dozen.

'Alas, someone else will reap the benefit of our time, money and efforts,' he wrote on Facebook as he appealed for friends and customers to share his story.

But he added that they are committed to rebuilding their business and is offering a $250 reward for information leading to their return.

In the meantime, he is padlocking the birds' enclosure and asking friends and neighbors to be on the lookout for anyone with new colorful eggs in the area.

'Maybe you have seen someone selling laying hens on craigslist or Facebook,' he wrote in his Facebook plea.

'Maybe the guy down the street just put up a sign.

'Perhaps your local feed store has some really beautiful chickens that don't fit any variety specifically. They could be our birds.'

He asked for anyone with information about the whereabouts of his stolen hens to contact the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, which said it is unclear if it will investigate.